OVAE Thanks Interns!

This summer, OVAE hosted five outstanding interns from across the country as part of the Department’s Summer Internship Program.

Wen Chen, a graduate student at George Washington University, tutored staff on using ArcGis and created maps using adult education data for the Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL).

Angela Choi, a junior at the City College of New York, also interned in DAEL. Choi built maps related to various adult education data, including locations for LINCS training and conferences, and tracked the amount of grant money each state receives for adult education.

Brenda Cuello, a junior at Mount Saint Mary’s University (Md.), created an orientation information packet to promote interconnectedness throughout OVAE’s divisions and its different programs, grants and initiatives. Cuello also collaborated with the DAEL team to create a geocoding a map that will display OVAE Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier’s speaking engagements.

Adeola Lawal, a sophomore at Boston College, assessed the Education Blueprint, Career and Technical Education programs and career academies; she also tracked education reform in the media. In the Office of the Assistant Secretary she analyzed college and career readiness as defined in state ESEA flexibility requests.

Nicole Rodriguez, a senior at Poolesville High School, worked on both community college and the Workforce Innovation Fund grants to create a user-friendly booklet for Secretary Arne Duncan and Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier to use on their upcoming Education Across America Bus Tour. Rodriguez also worked with OVAE Deputy Assistant Secretary Johan Uvin on his keynote speech for the 35th Annual Gala of Progreso Latino in Rhode Island.

OVAE thanks our summer interns for their outstanding service and wishes them well on all of their future endeavors!

The Production of College Graduates: Food for Thought for Educators

The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international organization composed of 34 countries committed to democracy and the market economy, has recently produced the series of briefs Education Indicators in Focus. The series demonstrates the rapidly changing landscape of college degree holders in the 25–34 year-old age range among various leading nations of the world. This column presents findings from the briefs.

OECD estimates that, in 2000, there were about 91 million college graduates across OECD and non-OECD G20 countries—about 51 million and about 39 million, respectively. The G20 economies partially overlap with OECD (10 countries are members of both organizations) and account for above 80 percent of the gross world product, about 80 percent of world trade, and about 66 percent of the world’s population. Of the 91 million college graduates, 17 percent were in the United States, 17 percent in China, 12 percent in the Russian Federation, and 10 percent each in Japan and India.

By 2010, OECD estimates that the 91 million college graduates had grown to 129 million. Of these, 66 million were in OECD countries, while 64 million were in non-OECD G20 countries. Further, 18 percent were in China, 14 percent in the United States, and 11 percent each in the Russian Federation and India.

Looking ahead to 2020, OECD projects 204 million college graduates, approximately 41 percent of them from China (29 percent) and India (12 percent). The United States’ share is projected at 11 percent, followed by the Russian Federation with 7 percent, and Japan with 4 percent. The highest-ranking European Union country is expected to be the United Kingdom, also at 4 percent.

The size of the populations in the various OECD and non-OECD G20 countries account for many of these differences. For example, by 2020, China aims to have 20 percent of its citizens—or 195 million persons—earning a college degree. If China realizes this goal, its population of college degree holders will be roughly equal in size to the entire projected population of 25–64 year-olds in the United States in 2020.